Life and Death in the Stone Forest

"Life and Death in the Stone Forest" continues the adventures of Shane O’Ryan. For his first assignment, the Society sends him to a dusty planet deep in the M4 globular cluster. An ancient race of alien artists is dying out. The scientist sent to investigate has disappeared. Shane’s assignment: solve both mysteries.

His journey takes him to Karst, an economic backwater run by a misogynistic and ruthless autocrat. Among the magnificent dolomite spires of the planet’s remote mountains, Shane uncovers a metamorphosis unlike any in the galaxy. He risks his life to stop human predation of a sentient species. And, he befriends what may be the oldest advanced race in the Milky Way.

Shane O'Ryan is an undercover agent for the Society for Protection of Intelligent Extraterrestrial Species. He and his secret fraternity investigate infractions of the colonization charter, which protects vulnerable intelligent species and their planets. The Society upholds the rights of alien species as humans expand through the Milky Way. Society agents risk their lives to make sure that the tragic aftermath of 1492 in the Americas never happens again anywhere humans go.